Draft rigging



Dec. 3, 1929. w. F. RcHARDs 3 9 DRAFT RIGGING Filed Sept. '7, 1927 gumenica Patented Dec. 3, 1929 PTMT WILLAED F. RICHARDS, OF DEPEW, NEV YORK, ASSIGNOB TO THE GUULD CO'UPLER COMPANY, or new YORK, n. Y.,

A CORPDBATIOH OF MAHLAND DBAFT RIG-GING Application filed September This intention relates to cusho'ng mechanism and, more particularly, to such adapted for use with ralway draft rggng.

The prncpal obj ect of my nventon, generally considered, ie to provide a :frcton dra'l't gear adapted tor use with ralway cars, said gear being particularly designed to elimnate stckng as well as to provide tor smoothness ot operation.

An object of my nventen is the provleen of frcton draft gear nvolving a housing closed at one end and open at 'the other, said open end being formed in opposte sde Walls thereot with nwardly opening recesees the enter walls definihg said reoesses being con- .Vergng toward each other :from the open endet' said housing, removable wear plates seated in said receeses and adapted for limited longgtudinal movement with respect to the housing the nncr snrtaces of said wear plates providing nclned 'l'rcton surfaces on the housing, wedge blecls wthcorrespondngly nelned frctjon an-:faces engagng the :rcton surtaces on the wear platee, and reelent means .tor :torcng said wedge blocks apart into engagement with said wear plates as well as 'for resetin; movement ot said wedge blocks into said housing.

Another object of mynventon is the provson of frcton draft gear 'volvng a casng or housing', the ncllned trcton snrtaces of which are provided by movable wear platee, said wear platee engarng the housing or casng along nclned walls thereof, and antifrcton means preferably comprsng hard brass liners dsposed between sai d wear plates and the casng 'or obvatng eticlng of the gear.

A 'further object ot my nventon sthe provison of cushionng mechansm, particularly adapted tor use with allway draft rggng, nvolvng a housing or casng containing reslent means and trctonal means, said reslent means preferably comprsng sprngs resstng nward movement of the frcton means, said tricton means preferably comprsng two pare of wedging `lricton blocks, the enter pair engane slghtly nclned walls on the caeng and the nner pair engag mg walls of the enter pair' nclined to agreat- 7, 1927. Serial No. meme.

er degree, said outer pair nterloclng with the casng tor limitng movement thereot and said nner par nterlockng with the enter pair 'for lmtng o'utward movement ther-ect.

A still further object of my nventon is the provison of i'rcton draft gear nvolvn; a frcton casing inelosng reslent means and two pars of frcton blocks, the enter pair of frcton blOClS engagng frcton surttaces on the easng and the nner pair of frcton blocks engagng freton snrfaces on the outer pair, ant-trcton means dspoeed between 'the l'rcton snrztaces on the enter pair of bloche and the casng, and the angle of the frcton snrfaces between the enter frcton blocle and casng being less than the angle ot' the tricton surtaces between the nner and outer pars of trcton blocls, whereby upon compression of the gear, movement is etected first between the outcr pair ot 'frcton blocls and the casng and, upon release ot the gear, movement is lkewse etlected between the same parte to obvate etcltng of the gean Other objects and advantages of the inventon relatng to the particular arra and Construction ot the various parte will become apparent ae the description proceede.

Referrng to the drawngs 'lllustratng my nven'ton the scopo whereot is defined by the appended clams:

F figure `l s a plan View, part-ly in horizontal section, llustratng one embodiment of my inventon and showing my cushlonng mechansm in open or release position.

Fgure 2 is a fragmentary eectonal View of the form ot cnshonng mechanem illustrated in Fignre l and showing the same in compressed or stressed position.

Fgure 3 ie a 'transverse eectonal View on the line 3-3 ot Fgure 2 looking in the direction ot the arrows.

l Beferrnp; to the drawngs in detal, like parte being' desgnated by like reference characters, there are lluetrated parte ot a ralway draft rgzgng dsposed between the draft or center sills 1 of a car, moton with respect thereto being limited by ordinary draft luge or steps 2 connected to the webs of the slls 1 of said car by rvets or other secnrng means 3. The gear in the present emree bodiment involves a casing or housing 4:*

closed at one end by a wall 5 and formed adj acent the other end with inwardly opening recesses or pockets 6.

The recesses 6 are preferably dened by longitudinally extending walls 7, the inner surfaces of which are preferably converging inwardly with respect to each other from the open end of the housing and, in the present embodiment, are .shown as inclined at an angle of approximately five degrees with respect to the longitudinal center line thereof. Received in said pockets or recesses 6 are removable wear plates or outer frietion blocks 8 which are slightly shorter than the length of said reeesses, whereby limited longitudinal movement therebetween is permitted. The inner surfaces of said wear plates 8 provide inclined friction surfaces 9 which, in the present embodiment when in place, are inclined approximately twenty-two degrees with respect to the longitudinal center line of the housing. It will, therefore, be apparent that the inclination illustrated in the present embodiment between the inner and outer faces of the wear plates 8 is approximately seventeen degrees.

In order to minimize friction between the wear plates 8 and the casing 4, anti-friction means 10 preferably comprising hard brass plates are disposed between said casing and wear plates. Said plates 10 are preferably of thesame length as the pockets so that the motion provided is between the wear plates and brass plates rather than between the brass plates and casing. In order to increase the life of the wear plates, the same are preferably case-hardened all over.

Cooperating with the wear plates 8 are friction wedge bloeks or inner friction blocks 11, the outer surfaces of which are preferably inclined at an angle corresponding, with the inner surfaces 9 of the wear plates and on the inner end of each is a fiange or lug 12 which cooperates with the inner ends of thewear plates 8 to limit outward movement of said wcdge blocks 11. In order to provide for engagement between the wedge blocks and wear plates rather than between the wedge blocks and casing, a slight clearance is formed between the outer end of the casing and said wedge blocks as indicated at 13. The inner or adjacent faces 14 of the wedge blocks 11 are preferably arranged parallel with respect to each other when in place and resilient means, preferably comprising two sets of curved plate springs 15, are disposed between said blocks for urging them away from each other and into engagement with the wear plates 8.

Positioned between the end 5 of the easing and the inner ends of the wedge blocks 11 is resilient means preferably involving helcal springs 16 and 17 The outer encls of said springs preferably engage a follower 18 positioned between the same and the ends of said wedge blocks 11, whereby said blocks are urged longitudinally and outwardly of the casing.

The gear described may be employed with a front follower 19 and rear follower 20 and is shown assoeiated with a vertical yoke 21, the front ends of which are connected to the butt of a coupler 22 by means of rivets 23. However, I do not wish to be limited to this showing nor is it essential that my gear be employed with the closed end of the casing 5 forwardly as the same may be reversed end to end if desired. It will also be understood that, when used with a horizontal yoke, the gear is preferably rotated ninety degrees about its longitudinal axis or, in other words, is positioned with the wear plates and frietion blocks vertically arranged with respect to each other rather than horizontally.

The operation of my cushioning mechanism is as follows. Upon either draft or bufling force being applied to the gear so that relative movement toward each other is effected between the wcdge blocks 11 and the casing 4, said wear plates first move inwardly on said brass plates with the wedge bloeks until they abut the inner shoulders 24 on the casing, after which the wedge blocks 11 move in'wardly, sliding over the frietion surfaces 9 on the wear plates to the position illustrated in F igure 2. This initial movement between the wear plates 8 and the brass plates takes place not only because of the small an gularity of the friction surfaces involved but because of the smaller coeflicient of friction between steel and brass than between steel and steel. It will be apparent that, during compression of the gear, the initial resistance is relatively small due not only to the sliding of the wear plates on the brass plates but because of the relatively slight inclination of said brass plates and engaging sui-faces on the wear plates. After the initial motion, the wear plates are stopped moving by the shoulders 24 and compression of the gear is efi'ected along the steeper inclined surfaces 9 so that a greater resistance is then offered by said gear not only on account of the increased angularity but because of the increascd coefiicient between the friction surfaces. The shoulders 25 in the casing are adapted to provide ultimate stops for compressive motion of the gear, thereby saving the springs 16 and 17 from undue strain.

Upon release of the gear, sticking thereof is obviated by the anti-frietion means or bra ss plates lo permitting an initial movement of the wear plates and associated friction blocks,

said initial movement being sufiicient to start release between the wedge blocks and wear plates. It will, therefore, be apparent that not only does my gear provide for what might be termed a two-stage compression and release due to provision for movement not only of the wedge blocks but also of the wear plates but, on account of the reduced friction between the wear plates and casing, release of the gear is faeilitated and sticking niinimized.

Although I have illustrated and described in detail a particular embodiment of my invention, it to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details as the anguiarity of the frietion surfaees may be varied, if desired, to meet different conditions and the permitted travel of the outer friction elemente or wear pla'tes may lilrewise be changed. lt should also be understood that, it desired, the brass liner may be omitted and the angularity of the outer friction surfaces on the wear plates and the corresponding walls of the casing may be increased to equal or exceed that of the friction surfaces on the wedge bloeks or inner frietion elements, and l desire to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. Gushioning mechanism adapted for use with railway draft riggng comprising a housing having recesses therein, a wall of each recess being inclined to the longitudinal anis of said housing, a removable wear piate engaging each of said walls, friction meehanism and a spring within said housing, said mechanism comprising a plurality of pairs of wedging friction bloclrs, and a friction producing spring interposed between said pairs, the blocks of one of said pairs having portions interloclring with the adjacent bloeks of the said other pair.

2. Cushioning mechanism adapted for use with railway draft rigging comprising a housing provided with oppositely disposed inwardl, opening recesses, the outer walls defining said recesses being inwardly converging from the end of said housing, a wear plate seated in each recess and movable longitudinally along said inclined wall, the inner faces of said wear plates providing inelined repiaceable friction surfaees, frioton wedge bloelzs provided with correspondingly in ciined friction surfaces slidable on the frietion surfaces of the wear plates, resilient means positioned between said wedge blocks for urging them against said wear plates, and resilient means disposed in said housing for resisting inward movement of said blocks.

3. Cushioning mechanism adapted for use with railway draft rigging comprising a housing having recesses therein adjacent one end thereof, the longitudinally extending walla; of said recesses being inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of said housing, movable wear plates positioned in said recesses for limited longitudinai movement therein, anti-friction means disposed between said wear plates .and the inclined walls of said recesses, the inner faces of said wedge blooks providing inclined friction `surfaces,

said wear plates, and resilient means disposed in said housing and engaging the inner ends of said wedge blocks for resisting movement thereof longitudinally of said housn 4. Cushioning mechanism adapted for use with railway draft rigging comprsing a housing inclosing'resilient means and inner and outer pairs of friction blocks, the outer pair of friction blocks engaging frietion surfaces on the casing and the inner pair of friction blocks engaging friction surfaces on the outer pair, anti-friction means posi tioned between the friction surfaees on the outer pair of blocks and the casing, the angle of said friction surfaces, between the outer friction blocks and casing, being less than the angle of the friction surfaces between the inner and outer pairs of friction blocks, and resilent means urging said inner pair of friction blocks into engagement with outer pair of friction blocks.

5. Cushioning mechanisn adapted for use with railway draft rigging comprising a housing inciosin resilient gear releasing means and friotion means, said frietion means comprising an inner pair of wedging friction blocks and an outer pair of friction blocks, the outer pair of blocks engaging slightly inclined walls on the casing and the inner pair engaging walls on the outer pair nclined to a greater degree, said outer pair interlocking with the housing for limiting movement thereof and said inner pair interlocking with said outer pair to limit outward movement thereof, and resilient means between the friction blocks of the inner pair to urge the same into frictional engagement with those of the outer pair.

6. Cushioning mechanisn adapted for use with railway draft rigging comprising a housing closed at one end and open at the other friction surfaces provided adjacent the open end by wear plates movable with re spect to said housing, wedge blocks engaging said wear plates, resilient means between said wedge blocks for urging the same against the wear plates, and brass liners disposed between said wear plates and housing for reducing friction therebetween.

7. Cushioning nechanisn adapted for use with railway draft rigging comprising a housing closed at one end and open at the other, said open end being forned in opposite side walls with inwardly opening recesses, the outer walls defining said recesses being inelined toward each other from the open end of the housing, renovable wear plates seated in said recesses and adapted for limited longitudinal movement with respect to the hous ing, the inner surfaces of said wear plates 'providing nclined frction 'sui-faces on the housing, wedge blocks with correspondngly inclined frction surfaees 'engaging the frietoi sul-faces on the wear plates, curved leaf sprngs disposed.` between said wedge blocks for urging the same into engagement with said wear plates, and reslent means positioned between said wedge blocks and the closed end of said housing to efl'ect release of the mechanism.

In testmony whei'eof I affix my signature.

WILLARD F. RICHARDS. 

